ACLU: Rulings In Other States Support Case Against Arkansas’ Voter ID Law

LITTLE ROCK — The American Civil Liberties Union of Arkansas asked a judge Wednesday to take into consideration two recent rulings in other states that it argued support the case against enforcing Arkansas’ voter ID law in the upcoming primary election.

In a court filing, the ACLU argued that Pulaski County Circuit Judge Tim Fox should give consideration to a Pennsylvania judge’s decision Monday to reaffirm his previous ruling striking down that state’s voter ID law and to a federal judge’s ruling Tuesday that struck down Wisconsin’s voter ID law.

The ACLU and the Arkansas Law Center have filed a lawsuit on behalf of four voters challenging the constitutionality of Act 595 of 2013, which requires Arkansas voters to show photo ID at the polls. A hearing is scheduled for Friday on a motion for a preliminary injunction to bar enforcement of the law.

Fox ruled in a separate case last week that Act 595 is unconstitutional because it imposes qualifications on voters that go beyond the qualifications set forth in the Arkansas Constitution. The state Supreme Court has stayed that ruling pending an appeal.

Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court Judge Bernard McGinley on Monday rejected a state motion to reinstate a Pennsylvania law requiring voters to show photo ID at the polls. McGinley had said in a January ruling that the law impaired the ability of Pennsylvanians, particularly the elderly, disabled and poor, to vote and that the argument the law was needed to combat voter fraud was not supported by evidence.

A day later, U.S. District Judge Lynn Adelman stuck down Wisconsin’s voter ID law, saying it would prevent more legitimate votes from being cast than fraudulent votes.

The ACLU noted Wednesday that McGinley held that allowing voters without photo ID to cast provisional ballots “(does) not provide an adequate safety net for the fundamental right to vote because those votes are subject to challenge.”

The ACLU also argued that Wisconsin’s voter ID law was less restrictive than Arkansas’ because it allowed voters to present types of identification that are not considered sufficient proof of identification under Act 595.

The state attorney general’s office did not immediately file a response Wednesday, but in its motion Monday for a stay of Fox’s ruling last week on Act 595, it argued that “a large majority of appellate courts to consider identical issues have upheld voter ID laws — including in cases raising claims under ‘additional qualification’ and ‘impairment’ provisions contained in state constitutions.”

Arkansas’ primary and nonpartisan election is May 20. Early voting begins Monday.